News – Page 58 – Aston Rowant Parish Council

Fibre broadband from Openreach?

Friday, 5th Mar 2021/in News/by Adam Bernstein

Early March the parish council hosted a Zoom meeting with representatives from Oxfordshire County Council and Airband offering updates on where they are in providing fibre to the premises (FTTP) broadband.

In summary, the plan is not going to be realised unless more residents express interest and even then, it may not be until the end of 2021 or even 2022. It is possible that Airband may provide FTTP to the parish, but it is by no means certain.

Since that meeting, another option appears to have opened up – Openreach – which used to be part of BT and which provides most of the telecoms infrastructure we all use.

Openreach operates a similar process, called the Community Fibre Partnership. But instead of residents directly expressing interest as they did to Airband, with Openreach residents provide their name, address and postcode to one point of contact who heads up the local group. Those names are then uploaded to Openreach. The collective list is analysed by Openreach and a plan sent back to the group lead.

It’s impossible to know if the plan is viable from Openreach’s point of view or what the costs involved will be. But in theory, costs could be met by the government’s broadband voucher scheme.

To be clear, there is no guarantee that this will get us any closer to having FTTP. However, the parish council has learned that fibre is being run by Openreach to the school imminently and importantly, infrastructure is also being installed as part of the process that could connect homes. Now whether that actually leads to connections is another matter, but if nothing else, Openreach will have done a fair chunk of the work.

It should also be pointed out that another benefit of Openreach is that it should be possible for households to choose their internet service provider rather than be tied to Airband (for the first two years).

If you are interested and want your address registered with Openreach, please send your details to .

Note – by supplying your name and address you will only be expressing interesting in an Openreach-run FTTP scheme. There is no commitment at this point in time. But the more interest we have the greater the chance of success.

Below are two downloadable files that explain more.

Update on FTTP broadband in the parish

Wednesday, 3rd Mar 2021/in News/by Adam Bernstein

Last night, 2 March, the parish council hosted a Zoom meeting where a representative from Airband, a provider of FTTP full fibre to the premises broadband, and Oxfordshire County Council, gave an update on the process, current status and likely timeline.

It was notable that OCC endorsed Airband as a reputable company with the financial resilience to be reliable.

Airband made it clear that more ‘expressions of interest’ – as opposed to contractual obligation – were needed for the programme to be financially viable.

Airband agreed that regular communication with parishioners, that is, those who have expressed interest, has been lacking and this will be rectified going forward.

It is also apparent that many in the parish have questions that they want answering including… how the fibre is installed, where it is installed in the home, actual data speeds, will I still need a phone line, and how reliable the service is. There are no doubt countless more and Airband is happy to answer each and every one.

If you have any questions, please forward them to who will collate and forward to Airband. In time, a FAQ will be prepared and circulated to the parish. There are no ‘silly’ questions – so ask anything.

It should be remembered that in exchange for a two-year contract, Airband will install and provide equipment without charge to householders. Prices are reasonable – £29.99/month for 150mb download or £39.99 for 250mb download.

A key point to note is that in 2025 the traditional copper network will start to disappear – no new copper wires will be installed and aluminium will be used instead for new installs and repairs. Aluminium is said to be a poor relation to copper.

Coronavirus has illustrated the need for faster and more reliable broadband connectivity.

For more information on Airband see here or to express interest, email

Bins unemptied?

Tuesday, 23rd Feb 2021/in News/by Adam Bernstein

Thames Water are attending a leak on the road into Aston Rowant village. As a result, SODCs refuse trucks couldn’t pass to empty the bins.

This has been reported and the bins will be emptied by the end of tomorrow. Please leave your bins in place.

Parish fibre broadband Zoom meeting

Monday, 22nd Feb 2021/in News/by Adam Bernstein

To explain the current situation of the rollout of fibre to the premises broadband (as opposed to fibre to the cabinet which is what we have now), the parish council is to host a Zoom meeting on Tuesday 2 March at 1930hrs.

At the meeting both Andy Roberts from Airband and Craig Bowers from the Digital Infrastructure Team at Oxfordshire County Council will update parishioners on the technologies involved, the install process and the latest state of the play. There will also be a Q&A session.

Please tell anyone you think might be interested.

The meeting can be joined via: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81236296359.

Census Day 31 March

Monday, 22nd Feb 2021/in News/by Adam Bernstein

The Census is being held on 31 March and will be the first run predominantly online, with households receiving a letter with a unique access code, allowing them to complete the questionnaire on their computers, phones or tablets. Paper questionnaires will be available for those who need them.

All information is held securely for 100 years. Statistics are only compiled based on anonymised data. Personal information is not shared with any organisation and is never sold.

www.census.gov.uk

Supporting communities through Covid-19 – funding available

Thursday, 18th Feb 2021/in News/by Adam Bernstein

In recognising the vital contribution that community and voluntary groups continue to make in the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, Supporting Communities Through COVID-19 is open to funding applications from small informal groups as well as established organisations. Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action (OCVA) and Community First Oxfordshire (CFO) are managing this grant scheme on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council.

Organisations can apply for a maximum of £10,000 for community action projects and a maximum of £50,000 for collaborative, broad reach projects.

Click here for an application form

If you require any further guidance about completing the application form or ask any questions about this grant scheme please contact .

Grant applications must be received by 10am, Friday 12 March 2021.

Garden waste – service to resume

Monday, 15th Feb 2021/in News/by Adam Bernstein

SODC’s garden waste service is to resume week beginning 22^nd February.

The crews will be working to complete the rounds but are expecting more garden waste bins to be put out than normal, so please be patient.

Please ensure all the garden waste fits into the bin with the lid closed. If you can’t fit everything in the bin, please keep anything extra back (except Christmas trees) until the next collection.

Speed Awareness

Saturday, 13th Feb 2021/in News/by Adam Bernstein

You will all, no doubt, have been aware of a gradual increase in the speed of traffic passing through Aston Rowant on the B4009, and on the roads within the village itself, with many drivers regularly exceeding the statutory limit. Your parish council has recognised that traffic calming action must be taken and, together with Oxfordshire County Council (OCC), are now addressing this problem head-on with proposals that are intended to make our roads safer for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic alike.

Following Cllr. Matthew Day’s successful installation of a chicane at the southern approach to Kingston Blount, it’s now Aston Rowant’s turn to control traffic speeds.

The council’s traffic calming project for Aston Rowant will include (a) reducing the speed limit within the old village roads from 30 MPH to 20 MPH, and (b) feasibility studies to install traffic speed reduction measures along the main highway, especially at the junction of the old village road and the B4009. OCC have also recognised that the current electronic Vehicle Activated Sign (VAS) on the B4009 south-eastern entrance to the village, is badly positioned. It triggers a “30 MPH Slow Down” warning prematurely for traffic arriving from the motorway and therefore will be relocated further north to become more effective.

The speed limit change within Aston Rowant will be implemented this spring, so may I suggest that now is an opportunity for everyone to practice observing the coming 20 MPH limit while waiting for replacement signage.

We trust our efforts will create a safer environment for all.

Cllr. John Wyatt

Aston Rowant Parish Council Traffic Calming Coordinator.

Airband update

Thursday, 11th Feb 2021/in News/by Adam Bernstein

After an approach by the parish council to Airband with an enquiry as to the latest position, the company has issued the following message:

“We cannot confirm timelines for delivery of our demand led projects at this time as we are focusing on the delivery of the contracted fibre currently which needs to be completed to then extend to additional projects.

Aston Rowant requires a minimum of 24 more expressions of interest/pre orders to qualify for build, with an estimated consideration for build start at the earliest Quarter 4 2021 subject to approval.”

As Airband told the council in a telephone conversation, an expression of interest is not a binding contract.

Extended support for those struggling to pay their council tax

Thursday, 11th Feb 2021/in News/by Adam Bernstein

South Oxfordshire District Council is to extend the support it is providing to help working age people who are struggling to pay their council tax as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In June the council provided up to £150 discount off 2020/21 council tax bills for residents on lower incomes who qualify for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

With Covid-19 continuing to impact many people financially, the council has now agreed to increase this support and will be providing an additional discount for these residents on top of the one they received last summer.

This means that those working age people who qualify for the means tested Council Tax Reduction Scheme will now receive up to a further £270 off for those in South Oxfordshire. The discount will be applied automatically, meaning that those entitled to the discount will receive a revised bill, but they will not have to apply or contact the council first.

The discount is being paid for by a government hardship fund which was announced last year.

The government hasn’t suspended council tax during the pandemic and so it still needs to be paid. If you are struggling to pay your bill please visit southoxon.gov.uk/counciltax to find out about the support available or call 0345 302 2313.

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